Temperature controlled refrigeration trailers or cargo containers are commonly used to transport temperature-sensitive cargo, such as food products, that must be maintained within a specific temperature range. Each such refrigeration trailer employs one of a variety of different types of cooling systems to control the temperature within the refrigeration trailer to ensure that the temperature is maintained within the desired range. Certain known refrigeration trailers employ a refrigeration unit located at the front or nose of the refrigeration trailer to control the temperature within the refrigeration trailer. The refrigeration unit includes an air intake, typically located near the bottom of the refrigeration unit, and an air outlet, typically located near the top of the refrigeration unit. To cool the air within the refrigeration trailer, the refrigeration unit draws air from the bottom of the refrigeration trailer into the refrigeration unit through the air intake, cools the air via one of a variety of different conventional manners, and expels the cooled air into the upper portion of the refrigeration trailer through the air outlet.
One of a variety of known air distribution chutes is typically used to distribute the cooled air expelled from the air outlet of the refrigeration unit down the length of the refrigeration trailer to the rear of the refrigeration trailer (i.e., to the end opposite the refrigeration unit). Generally, such known air distribution chutes are attached to the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer, are fluidically connected to the air outlet of the refrigeration unit, and are configured to guide the cooled air expelled from the air outlet toward the rear of the refrigeration trailer, which reduces or substantially eliminates the likelihood that cooled air expelled from the air outlet will immediately be drawn back into the air intake.
In certain refrigeration trailers, one known air distribution chute extends along the center of the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer from the air outlet of the refrigeration unit to the rear of the refrigeration trailer. This known air distribution chute includes a chute header and a single chute body that, when installed, fluidically connect this known air distribution chute to the air outlet of the refrigeration unit such that the cooled air expelled from the air outlet may travel from the air outlet to the rear of the refrigeration unit through an air passageway formed between this known air distribution chute and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer. The chute header is attachable to the refrigeration unit (as described below), includes a plurality of grommets around its periphery to facilitate attachment to the front wall and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer (as described below), and is sewn or otherwise attached to a front end of the chute body.
The chute body (prior to installation) is rectangular and includes opposing front and rear edges, which are about 60 inches (152.4 centimeters) long, and opposing side edges having a length substantially equal to the length of the interior of the refrigeration trailer. The chute body includes two substantially identical sets of grommets spaced along the length of the chute body proximate each side edge to facilitate attachment of each side edge to the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer along two substantially parallel, spaced apart lines of attachment (as described below). Here, for each set of grommets, the grommets of the set are spaced apart along each side edge of the length of the chute body by about 24 inches (60.96 cm).
To install this known air distribution chute, an installer draws guide lines down the center of the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer from the refrigeration unit to the rear of the refrigeration trailer. The installer uses these guide lines to center the chute body of this known air distribution chute on the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer to ensure proper air flow. The guide lines are spaced apart such that after the chute body is installed, gravity causes the center of the chute body to hang down or droop about 6 to 8 inches (15.24 to 20.32 centimeters) below the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer along the entire length of the chute body. This ensures that enough cooled air flows from the air outlet of the refrigeration unit to the rear of the refrigeration trailer, but creates substantial problems, as described below. The installer uses metal adaptors to attach the chute header to the front wall of the refrigeration trailer to cover or span the air outlet of the refrigeration unit. The installer attaches the chute header to the front wall and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer by inserting fasteners through the grommets around the periphery of the chute header and into the front wall and the ceiling. Using the guide lines for guidance, the installer inserts fasteners through the grommets down the length of the chute body and into the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer to attach the chute body to the ceiling along the two substantially parallel, spaced apart lines of attachment (i.e., a first line of attachment associated with the grommets proximate one of the side edges of the chute body and a second line of attachment associated with the grommets proximate the other side edge of the chute body). As noted above, after installation, the air outlet of the refrigeration unit, the chute header, and the chute body are fluidically connected, and an air passageway is formed between this known air distribution chute and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer through which the cooled air may travel from the air outlet to the rear of the refrigeration trailer.
There are numerous drawbacks to employing this known air distribution chute including a single chute body extending along the center of the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer. Because the chute body of this known air distribution chute is attached to the ceiling along two substantially parallel lines of attachment, the general shape of the cross section of the chute body is substantially the same (e.g., “U” or “V” shaped) regardless of whether air is flowing through this known air distribution chute. Because the chute body hangs or droops from the ceiling at all times along the entire length of the chute body after installation, the chute body is frequently subject to damage when loading and unloading cargo into and from the refrigeration trailer. For example, when using a forklift to load a pallet of materials into or to unload a pallet of materials from the refrigeration trailer, the forklift mask and/or the materials on the pallet may contact the drooping chute body, causing it to tear or ripping it off of the ceiling. This could cause this known air distribution chute to require replacement, repairs, or re-installation, which are time consuming and expensive.
Additionally, the installation process for this known air distribution chute, described above, is laborious and time consuming. For instance, in one example in which the refrigeration trailer is a 40 foot refrigeration trailer, in addition to drawing guide lines and attaching the chute header to the refrigeration unit and the front wall and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer, the installer has to attach the chute body of this known air distribution chute to the ceiling at about forty different points of attachment (i.e., about every 24 inches down the length of each side edge of the chute body).
Further, this known air distribution chute covers about two-thirds of the ceiling, and often covers or substantially covers some or all of any lights mounted on the ceiling. This makes it difficult for a worker, such as forklift driver, to see when loading and unloading cargo into and from the refrigeration trailer. The bad lighting conditions could cause the forklift driver to damage the cargo (e.g., run into the cargo with the forklift or place the cargo in an undesired or unstable area) or to work more slowly, which wastes time and money. Additionally, the proximity of the chute body to the ceiling causes heat to be transferred to the cooled air (such as from the lights), which warms the air and reduces the effectiveness of this known air distribution chute.
To alleviate certain of these drawbacks, other refrigeration trailers employ an air distribution chute including two chute bodies extending along the lengths of opposing sides of the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer proximate the opposing side walls of the refrigeration trailer from the air outlet of the refrigeration unit to the rear of the refrigeration trailer. This known air distribution chute includes a chute header and two chute bodies that, when installed, fluidically connect this known air distribution chute to the air outlet of the refrigeration unit such that the cooled air expelled from the air outlet may travel from the air outlet to the rear of the refrigeration unit through air passageways formed between this known air distribution chute and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer. The chute header is attachable to the refrigeration unit (as described below), includes a plurality of grommets around its periphery to facilitate attachment to the front wall and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer (as described below), and is sewn or otherwise attached to a front end of each chute body. The chute bodies are substantially identical to those described above, but each have front and rear edges that are either 20 inches (50.8 centimeters) long or 30 inches (76.2 centimeters) long.
To install this known air distribution chute, for each side of the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer, an installer draws guide lines on the ceiling from the refrigeration unit toward that side of the ceiling and then to the rear of the refrigeration trailer. The guide lines of each set are spaced apart such that after the chute body is installed using those guide lines, gravity causes the center of the chute body to hang down or droop about 6 to 8 inches (15.24 to 20.32 centimeters) below the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer along the entire length of the chute body. This ensures that enough cooled air flows from the air outlet of the refrigeration unit to the rear of the refrigeration trailer, but creates substantial problems, as described below. The installer uses metal adaptors to attach the chute header to the front wall of the refrigeration trailer to cover or span the air outlet of the refrigeration unit. The installer attaches the chute header to the front wall and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer by inserting fasteners through the grommets around the periphery of the chute header and into the front wall and the ceiling.
For a first one of the sets of guide lines, using those guide lines for guidance, the installer inserts fasteners through the grommets down the length of a first one of the chute bodies and into the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer to attach the first chute body to the ceiling along the two substantially parallel, spaced apart lines of attachment (i.e., a first line of attachment associated with the grommets proximate one of the side edges of the first chute body and a second line of attachment associated with the grommets proximate the other side edge of the first chute body). The installer repeats this process for the second set of guide lines to attach the second chute body to the ceiling proximate the opposite side of the ceiling. As noted above, after installation, the air outlet of the refrigeration unit, the chute header, and the chute bodies are fluidically connected, and air passageways are formed between this known air distribution chute and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer through which the cooled air may travel from the air outlet to the rear of the refrigeration trailer.
While the use of this known air distribution chute having two chute bodies extending along opposing sides of the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer provides relatively better air flow than the known air distribution chute having a single chute body extending along the center of the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer, it fails to solve certain of the above-described problems and creates additional problems.
The use of two chute bodies doubles the chance (relative to the use of a single chute body) that one of the chute bodies will be damaged during loading and unloading of cargo into and from the refrigeration trailer. More specifically, because each chute body is attached to the ceiling along two substantially parallel, spaced apart lines of attachment, the general shape of the cross section of each chute body is substantially the same (e.g., “U” or “V” shaped) regardless of whether air is flowing through this known air distribution chute. Because each chute body hangs or droops from the ceiling at all times along the entire length of the chute body after installation, each chute body is frequently subject to damage when loading and unloading cargo into and from the refrigeration trailer. For example, when using a forklift to load a pallet of materials into or to unload a pallet of materials from the refrigeration trailer, the forklift mask and/or the materials on the pallet may contact one or more of the drooping chute bodies, causing one or more of the chute bodies to tear or ripping one or more of the chute bodies off of the ceiling. This could cause this known air distribution chute to require replacement, repairs, or re-installation, which is time consuming and expensive.
Further, this known air distribution chute employing two chute bodies also covers about two-thirds of the ceiling, and often covers or substantially covers some or all of any lights mounted on the ceiling. This makes it difficult for a worker, such as forklift driver, to see when loading and unloading cargo into and from the refrigeration trailer. The bad lighting conditions could cause the forklift driver to damage the cargo (e.g., run into the cargo with the forklift or place the cargo in an undesired or unstable area) or to work more slowly, which wastes time and money. Additionally, the proximity of the chute body to the ceiling causes heat to be transferred to the cooled air (such as from the lights), which warms the air and reduces the effectiveness of this known air distribution chute.
The use of two chute bodies rather than a single chute body doubles the material cost, doubles the hardware cost, doubles the installation time, and doubles the labor cost when compared to the single air distribution chute down the center of the ceiling. For instance, in the above-described example in which the refrigeration trailer is a 40 foot refrigeration trailer, in addition to drawing guide lines and attaching the chute header to the refrigeration unit and the front wall and the ceiling of the refrigeration trailer, the installer has to attach each chute body of this known air distribution chute to the ceiling at about forty different points of attachment (i.e., about every 24 inches down the length of each side edge of the chute body), resulting in eighty points of attachment for both chute bodies combined.
Accordingly, there is a need for new and improved refrigeration trailer air distribution chutes that solve these problems.